How Did We Get Here?
by tigerfan21
Summary: This story takes a look at how Erin Lindsay and Jay Halstead come to fall in love. It starts just after Al's funeral and then jumps back to season 1 to look at their history together. This story will "fill in" their moments that we didn't see in the episodes as I envision them happening.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to a slow burn Linstead. It will follow canon with the show up to a point. I'll let you know episodes and important events that go along with the chapter. Anything that's recognizable and the characters belong to NBC. There may be some direct quotes from the show, those will be noted at the end of the chapter. It starts after Al's funeral but will quick jump backwards to around Season 1. There's no set update schedule so please be patient with me. This will be multiple chapters and I'll try to give warning when it's getting close to ending. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!**

Setting: 2 weeks after Al's Funeral in Season 6 Episode 1

Chapter 1

Hank Voight sat in his arm chair staring into his glass of red wine. The TV had long switched to the nightly news but Hank heard nothing but background noise over the dull buzzing in his head. Normally, wine would not be his drink of choice but since the loss of Alvin Olinsky, red wine found its way into his hand more and more often. And not just the wine; bourbon, scotch, whiskey, you name it; he drank it in the last two weeks. With a giant swig, the remainder of the wine in his glass made its way down his throat.

Groaning, he rose unsteadily to his feet with the intent to head to bed. Some sleep would make the hangover less painful in the morning. He was looking around for the remote when a quiet knocking sounded from the direction of the front door. Unsure of who would be knocking this late, Hank took a sobering breath before opening the door. Standing on the front porch with a mixture of sadness and uncertainty on her face was Erin Lindsay. Before his brain could process who he was seeing, her small arms were wrapped around him and a quiet "Oh, Hank, I'm so sorry" echoed through the stillness of the house. Erin was home.

After the long hug in the front hall, Erin and Hank moved to the kitchen. Almost every important conversation that had been held in this house occurred around the kitchen table: the discussion of the rules when Erin came to live with the Voights, Erin informing Hank and Camille that she had been accepted to the police academy, the two older Voights sitting her and Justin down to tell them that Camille was sick. The list was endless. Hank turned back to the table with fresh glasses of wine for himself and Erin. She accepted hers with a small smile and a nod. When Hank sat down, Erin gently placed her hand over his on the table.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be here for his funeral," she started. "I should have been but I was on assignment and didn't know. When I got back to New York, I finally got all of your messages. You can't really have thought I would stayed away. "

Hank had to clear the emotion from his throat in order to get the words out, "Erin, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here, especially now."

"Don't be ridiculous, I am not leaving you here to handle this on your own. I wish I could have been here, for you and for him. I took emergency leave as soon as my debriefing was cleared. I am here for a week and you're not getting rid of me before that."

Hank looked at her, recognizing the fire in her eyes in addition to the pain He knew from experience there was going to be no talking her out of this. Despite his concerns, he was going to be selfish and enjoy the little time he had with her here in Chicago.

"Well, I guess we should go get your room made up then."


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to a slow burn Linstead. It will follow canon with the show up to a point. I'll let you know episodes and important events that go along with the chapter. Anything that's recognizable and the characters belong to NBC. There may be some direct quotes from the show, those will be noted at the end of the chapter. It starts after Al's funeral but will quick jump backwards to around Season 1. There's no set update schedule so please be patient with me. This will be multiple chapters and I'll try to give warning when it's getting close to ending. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!**

Setting: Immediately Following Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The next morning Erin and Hank fell easily back into their morning routine. She started the coffee pot while he got the scrambled eggs started. Erin popped 2 pieces of bread in the toaster, poured juice, grabbed mugs and milk for her own coffee. Hank plated the eggs, grabbed the toast, and brought the plates to the table just as Erin finished pouring coffee. They split the paper, reading quietly with few words spoken through breakfast. Neither one of them had ever been much of a morning person.

Approximately 30 minutes later, Hank loaded his plate and mug into the dishwasher, gave Erin a quick kiss to the top of her head, and went out the door to work. Erin took some time to really look around the house for the first time since arriving the evening before. In the light of day, the small little signs that Hank was not taking care of himself as well as he should were much more evident. Instead of the well maintained house Erin was used to, there were dishes in the sink, at least a week's worth of newspapers piled haphazardly on the kitchen island, and general clutter everywhere she looked.

Erin spent the better part of the day getting the house back in shape. Each room revealed new things that had been neglected during the last few weeks. She did 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed, and tidied up before spending the afternoon catching up with Annie and Travis. In addition to helping Hank out, Erin was trying to distract herself from the building nerves. That evening most if not all of the Intelligence unit would be at Molly's grabbing a few beers after shift. It was time to give them an explanation for her quick departure. The team wasn't the problem, just the thought of seeing Jay was the source of all her nerves.

At 8pm that evening, Erin found herself standing outside the door of Molly's nervously fiddling with her shirt. Smoothing the hem down over her hips, Erin took a deep soothing breath and reached for the handle of the door. Just as she was about to pull it open, she heard someone exclaim "Erin?!" Looking to her right, Atwater stood a few feet away, clearly heading to Molly's himself.

"Hey," Erin said with a small, awkward wave.

"Oh come on, none of that. Get over here." Atwater said, opening his arms in an invitation.

With a smile, Erin moved into his arms for a hug. "It's good to see you Kev!"

Atwater held her out by her shoulders to get a look at her. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Honestly, I've been better. It's been a rough couple of days."

"More like a rough couple of months."

"Yeah, that's true" she agreed.

"Speaking of rough couple months, you know he's probably in there right?" Atwater asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Erin couldn't help the sheepish smile that spread across her face. "I was hoping having the team as a buffer might limit some of the fireworks"

"Well then," Atwater said as he swung an arm over her shoulder and opened the door, "let's get the show started then."

Upon entering Molly's, Erin was grateful for Atwater's strong arm around her shoulder, otherwise she would have lost her courage. Not even 10 feet away at one of the high bar tables, Jay sat with his back to her. Antonio was sitting to his right, back to the wall, scanning the bar. Across from them Ruzek and Hailey were laughing at whatever story Jay was telling. Within seconds, Antonio's eyes caught hers and his eyebrows rose in surprise. Not long after Antonio saw them, Ruzek and Hailey noticed the pair approaching the table.

"Woah." slipped out of Adam's mouth without him realizing.

Jay's eyes snapped to him at the strange exclamation. "What?" He asked. Glancing around the table, Ruzek, Antonio and Hailey were all looking in the direction of the door with a mixture of expressions on their faces. He turned to look himself and the vision felt like a punch in the gut. Standing not 5 feet away was Erin. Their eyes met and the little air left in him fled his body.

"Hi" she said so quietly it was a miracle anyone heard her over the din in the bar.

Jay was on his feet in a flash. "Nope, I'm not doing this here." he said as he hastily put on his coat.

"Jay…" the pained tone to her voice almost broke down his barriers but he didn't allow himself to pause.

"Nope." Was the last word out of his mouth as he breezed past her on his way out the door.

Erin stood there, mouth open, watching the closed door after Jay left. Honestly, she expected that to go much worse but the encounter still stung. A gentle tap on the shoulder brought her attention around to Antonio.

"It's really good to see you." He said, bringing her into a hug. "Stay and catch up a bit?"

Even though she wanted to rush after Jay, she had missed the rest of the team while she was gone too. Antonio returned to his seat, she hopped into Jay's across from a still surprised looking Adam and a less than thrilled to see her looking Hailey. Atwater came back from the bar with beers for the two of them and the team quickly fell into easy conversation even with the black cloud of Jay's departure hanging over them.

About an hour later, Ruzek was at the bar waiting for his and Hailey's drinks when Erin leaned in next to him. She ordered another round of beers from Herman and then turned so she was facing Adam.

"So how long have you and Hailey been sleeping together?"

He choked lightly on his drink and started to sputter. "I…. I… What?!" he managed to get out.

"Is it more than that?" Erin probed.

"I don't know." He answered with a sigh, "How could you tell?"

"Just the way you guys move around each other. It's familiar…" she replied wistfully, looking at the door again. Ruzek put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a concerned look.

"Just be careful, okay?" she says. At that moment, Herman placed their drinks on the bar and she shoots him a small smile before grabbing her beer and walking back to the table.

After finishing the current round of drinks, Erin says her goodbyes and promises the group she will see them again before she heads back to New York. The 15 minute drive to Hank's gives her time to think about how to approach Jay the next day. She had hoped to avoid having their conversation at the apartment they once shared but based on his reaction tonight, it might be her only option. She pulled into the driveway and shuffled her way to the front door. The sound of someone clearing their throat had her reaching for where her gun was usually holstered. Squinting through the darkness she could see the lanky frame of Jay Halstead sitting on the bench by the front door. Erin winced as she watched him take a drag off a cigarette and then snuff it out. That was a habit he kicked a long time ago.

As their eyes locked for the second time that night, Erin could see the combination of hurt and mistrust on his face. The silence stretched between them until Jay spoke, his question hanging in the air between them:

"How did we get here?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back! Just a reminder, there no set update schedule for this story so please be patient with me. This will be multiple chapters and I'll try to give warning when it's getting close to ending. It will follow canon with the show up to a point. I'll let you know episodes and important events that go along with the chapter. Anything that's recognizable and the characters belong to NBC. There may be some direct quotes from the show, those will be noted at the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! **

Setting: Approximately 1 month before Season 1 Episode 1. For reference, in that first episode, Voight implies that the Intelligence unit had only been formed 2 months prior to when we meet them.

Chapter 3

Erin Lindsay gave her reflection a critical appraisal. She had on her favorite green shirt that brought out the light colors of her eyes. Her hair had been successfully tamed into soft waves. Her eye make up was done a little heavier than she typically went for work but the overall effect was worth it. She looked good, but not like she was trying too hard. She definitely did not want to appear like she was trying to hard and have Hank notice.

Today the newest member of the Intelligence Unit was joining their ranks. Erin didn't know much about him beyond the basics from his file. His name was Jay Halstead, he passed the detective exam about 6 months before she did, and his background before joining the Chicago police department was military. And most importantly, Erin hoped that this Jay guy would become her new partner.

It had been 2 weeks since Erin passed her detective's exam and officially transferred units, but she was already tired of constantly riding with Hank or Al. When the Intelligence Unit formed a month ago with Hank at the head, no one batted an eye when Alvin Olinksy was the first person to move his stuff into a back wall desk on the second floor of the 21st district that would serve as the home of their unit.

The other two detectives came as a surprise to Erin. Jules Willhite and Antonio Dawson were a formidable pair of detectives. They had been partnered 2 years prior while working Guns and Gangs and their partnership was one of working legends. Their work preceded them and was more than enough to earn a spot in this new unit. The surprise came from the fact that Antonio had been directly involved in Hank's arrest. It was unclear to Erin why Antonio would take this post, but so far the two men seemed to have forged a grudging working relationship. Having Jules along definitely helped soften most of the two men's interactions.

Even arriving 5 minutes early, Erin was the last of the current Intelligence members to arrive in the bullpen. Hank was in his office looking through the stack of files on his desk. Al sat kicked back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, his hat pulled down over his eyes. Jules was perched on the corner of Antonio's desk chugging coffee while chattering away about her weekend. Erin stopped in the door of Hank's office to say a quick good morning before grabbing her own cup of coffee and joining Jules and Antonio.

At 9am on the dot the sound of someone walking up the stairs could be heard from the end of the bullpen. The first thing Erin noticed were the strong arms holding a cardboard box. Those arms were attached to a firm looking chest, a chiseled jaw, and a pair of piercing blue eyes. Antonio excused himself from the conversation and greeted Jay at the top of the stairs. Erin watched shile Antonio instructed him to drop the box on the empty desk and leads him to Hank's office. At the same time Jules gave Jay an exaggerated once over, then turned to Erin with her eyebrows raised high and a look of approval on her face. Erin couldn't contain the little laugh that escapes into her coffee mug when Jules wiggles her eyebrows up and down as if to say "what do you think?"

Erin shook her head at Jules antics and moved to sit at her desk just has Hank, Antonio and Jay emerged from the office.

"Everyone, this is Jay Halstead, newest member of Intelligence. Now that our caseload has been picking up, we might gain some additional members along the way. Catch him up to speed before we catch our next case."

Jay gives a small wave to the room before making his way to introduce himself to Al. He chit chats with Antonio for another minute and shakes hands with Jules, and before she knows it he's standing at the edge of her desk, hand extended in greeting.

"Jay Halstead" he says with a smile that she's sure has melted many hearts.

"Erin Lindsay" she responds placing her hand in his for a shake. She holds on for a second too long before she realizes she should drop his hand.

_Damn_, she thinks as she watches him sit at the desk across from hers. _Things might get interesting around here_.


End file.
